I am not an anti-MS troll at all, but I do think this highlights MS weakness. Perhaps the entire company did revolve around Bill, and with him stepping out more and more, it seems to directly correlate to the loss of innovation and competitiveness at MS. They were not able to turn themselves on a dime to adapt to the Internet as I believe they needed to about 10 years ago. Google is consistently coming up with AMAZING stuff that MS isn't even close to matching (have you actually tried to use your hotmail account lately?)
If I'm very hungry, I'll buy the entire grocery store. If I'm clothes shopping (which is extremely rare) in and out is my mantra. If I'm going to an electronics place -- anything can happen.
China is opening, and I think it's apparent by the way they are covering the quake. No, they will not be a fully functioning democracy tomorrow, but this coverage of the quake is big news.
To the Chinese natural disasters were, in the past, covered up and silenced. They are embracing not only independent local coverage, but independent FOREIGN coverage as well (foreign access is truly amazing).
I think despite some obvious failings even today, China is truly moving forward into a more open society. Give credit where credit is due...
Whenever I read big-brother type stuff like this, I'm reminded of one of the best lectures I received regarding the direction of IT (and this was years ago)
In speaking about GIS he outlined some items that seemed very spooky and seemingly improbable things that would happen - then he discussed the results of those things occurring as if they were a given. I was skeptical that they'd even happen, but they are beginning to... stuff like this article mentions, how it will be very close to impossible to travel without a cell phone, and how that would essentially mark you (not in the crazy 666 sense) for all kinds of crap people want to sell to you.
At the end, his point was that these types of things will be reviled in name only, but once people receive the benefits of the technology, they'll love it. We're headed down this path whether we like it or not; privacy will become a very relative thing in the next couple decades. We will need to rely exclusively on the good faith of the companies that guard our information.
Ain't that the truth? I learned this the hard way when I gave up my wonderful Canon (which was just too old) for a crappy Casio. Went with the higher megapixels without truly educating myself first.
Why is it that whenever I read about nationwide, concerted, coordinated and serious efforts related to IT security, the USA is never mentioned?
Sure, we've got the airforce doing this and some twig of the FBI doing that, but where's the real commitment to security? Where's the offensive capability and overwhelming manpower the Chinese supposedly have? Where's the planning that seems to be happening in Europe? We're sending an "observer" -- WTF?
I'd love to believe we're just smarter about it. What's the point of broadcasting you have attack power on something as covert as IT -- in peacetime? But somehow I doubt it.
NSA is near god-like in terms of technical prowess; does anybody think we're utilizing it like we should?
They need to get the fuck over it. How are we treating them like a 'stupid dog'? Perhaps if you reread your post and note its tone, you'll find the answer to your question...
heh, come to think of it, maybe it was a Novell server. I think the story date is about right too (sometime after the dot.com bust -- before we were really sure it was a bust).
So you're not the least bit interested if they share the same characteristics as us, such as: DNA, amino acids, organelles, etc, etc?
There are a million and one things I'd prefer to see from life on Mars before I ever knew the location of water (if it exists). I know what water looks like, but extra-terrestrial life, I have no idea.
I dunno, I guess it's because it's the only thing going on in the vid?
Somewhat interestingly, the fish is mellow yellow until the shaking starts (so much for THAT theory), but once things start happening, it goes nuts faster than the humans do (you can catch it if you watch closely).
The NSA: Granted, they are all powerful and perhaps evil, but at least they on OUR SIDE. I don't like wars or conflict (I think they are outdated methods of resource allocation), but if shit hits the fan, we've got people that can and will defend us.
But... I think it is interesting to consider WHY certain posts are created. Does a separate, cabinet level post really need to exist for homeland security? Wouldn't a secretary of defense occupy that duty?
Sure, homeland security would be a worthy sub-cabinet level post, but was the homeland security position made into a cabinet position for PR or for truly getting things done?
A consultant I once worked with told me a story (perhaps it's an "old wife's" tale), of a unix mail server.
Apparently at his friend's work there was a mail server no one bothered to ever learn the physical location of, people just remotely logged in and logged out, for years and years. Then one day, the office was being remodeled and between the drywall (inside the walls) they found a rather dusty, yellowed computer terminal. They had found their mail server!
Does anyone else buy that story? I'm a bit skeptical.
Wait a minute, I call shenanigans. I did a Google for "TV Tray Tables" and didn't see anything. Went to page four. Am I missing some kind of rule 34 trick here?
No, actually I've never seen it. It kind of formed in my head while hanging out on marketwatch.com (a WSJ website) while looking at all the dipshit comments people had to make about the economy.
Since the idiots are in the majority, if there were a/. type system their views would receive the mods; and since they don't know what they're talking about, it wouldn't add much to good business discourse.
But since even idiots buy stuff, WSJ doesn't want to send those people away. I brought something like this solution up on their suggestions forum on their site and they said they liked it. I think this means they may implement it, so if you find it anywhere, that might be the first place.
I actually brought this up in hopes that I'd get enough attention for someone to point out why this DOESN'T work. I'm just surprised high traffic sites don't use stuff like this already. I can't think of any downsides to this approach (aside from people insulating themselves from alternate opinions -- but I suspect that happens anyway)... can you?
The best solution is to embrace political cliques. Do I hate MS with my dying breath? No. So when I post something that could be anything but an extreme dislike for MS, I'm modded troll.
A better solution, especially for Washington Post, where emotional politics are the norm, is to embrace different views.
You're new to the site? Ok, you see everyone's comments -- stupid, insightful & hateful. Add a button where you can choose them as a friend, or never see their comments again. Once you've got enough friends built up, you can switch to a friend view, where you don't see anyone BUT your friends -- maybe you can add an option for occasionally putting non-friend, popular comments into your view.
This solution enables the nutcases to talk to each other and the reasonable people to talk to each other -- all at the same time, but on different "channels", if you will.
(By the way, MS sucks and I hope they DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!!!!!)
Regardless of your stance on Google, I for one am very happy they are on this case. I find it improbable that any other company would put up as much of a fight as they do.
...but India's democracy is it's greatest weakness... I believe you are right, and I am a firm believer in democracy. An underdeveloped state will have real problems with a democracy, because social institutions are not strong enough to support rational governance for an extended period of time. Education of the population is often is an issue as well.
However, ultimately I think India is better off as a democracy (because they do have fairly robust social infrastructure), and in such a fractured society, people need a voice -- but the democracy is fragile and though I think they'll make it, there is a somewhat worrying probability that they will not.
What about Africa? Seems as though you're forgetting about them. They will be the last in line to make the world their t-shirts and shoelaces.
Years ago, I had a sociology teacher say that economic success gradually filters down. The whiter you are, the quicker you get it. If that is true, Africa will be last. Europe, USA have achieved success, China and Brazil are getting there, and Africa... well, we're just beginning to look at their natural resources.
Slashdot Mirror
That is what I wonder too.
I am not an anti-MS troll at all, but I do think this highlights MS weakness. Perhaps the entire company did revolve around Bill, and with him stepping out more and more, it seems to directly correlate to the loss of innovation and competitiveness at MS. They were not able to turn themselves on a dime to adapt to the Internet as I believe they needed to about 10 years ago. Google is consistently coming up with AMAZING stuff that MS isn't even close to matching (have you actually tried to use your hotmail account lately?)
It's getting very obvious now.
Depends.
If I'm very hungry, I'll buy the entire grocery store. If I'm clothes shopping (which is extremely rare) in and out is my mantra. If I'm going to an electronics place -- anything can happen.
China is opening, and I think it's apparent by the way they are covering the quake. No, they will not be a fully functioning democracy tomorrow, but this coverage of the quake is big news.
To the Chinese natural disasters were, in the past, covered up and silenced. They are embracing not only independent local coverage, but independent FOREIGN coverage as well (foreign access is truly amazing).
I think despite some obvious failings even today, China is truly moving forward into a more open society. Give credit where credit is due...
-------
-1 nonconforming opinion
Whenever I read big-brother type stuff like this, I'm reminded of one of the best lectures I received regarding the direction of IT (and this was years ago)
In speaking about GIS he outlined some items that seemed very spooky and seemingly improbable things that would happen - then he discussed the results of those things occurring as if they were a given. I was skeptical that they'd even happen, but they are beginning to... stuff like this article mentions, how it will be very close to impossible to travel without a cell phone, and how that would essentially mark you (not in the crazy 666 sense) for all kinds of crap people want to sell to you.
At the end, his point was that these types of things will be reviled in name only, but once people receive the benefits of the technology, they'll love it. We're headed down this path whether we like it or not; privacy will become a very relative thing in the next couple decades. We will need to rely exclusively on the good faith of the companies that guard our information.
People still RENT their phones...
http://www.clientleasingservices.com/
750,000 of them, according to usatoday...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2006-09-14-phone_x.htm
Ok, so I've got to say, I just don't GET (understand) spam. Who the hell is still clicking on the links?
Does anyone fall for a Nigerian scam anymore? Or buy pills? Or want a bigger schlong?
Don't people get it already?! How do these spammers make money?
Ain't that the truth? I learned this the hard way when I gave up my wonderful Canon (which was just too old) for a crappy Casio. Went with the higher megapixels without truly educating myself first.
Why is it that whenever I read about nationwide, concerted, coordinated and serious efforts related to IT security, the USA is never mentioned?
Sure, we've got the airforce doing this and some twig of the FBI doing that, but where's the real commitment to security? Where's the offensive capability and overwhelming manpower the Chinese supposedly have? Where's the planning that seems to be happening in Europe? We're sending an "observer" -- WTF?
I'd love to believe we're just smarter about it. What's the point of broadcasting you have attack power on something as covert as IT -- in peacetime? But somehow I doubt it.
NSA is near god-like in terms of technical prowess; does anybody think we're utilizing it like we should?
Bong hits for Jesus?
http://www.cnn.com/2007/LAW/06/25/free.speech/
heh, come to think of it, maybe it was a Novell server. I think the story date is about right too (sometime after the dot.com bust -- before we were really sure it was a bust).
Cool, thx for the refresher.
millenia, fyi
WHHHHHHHHAT?! C'mon dude.
So you're not the least bit interested if they share the same characteristics as us, such as: DNA, amino acids, organelles, etc, etc?
There are a million and one things I'd prefer to see from life on Mars before I ever knew the location of water (if it exists). I know what water looks like, but extra-terrestrial life, I have no idea.
I dunno, I guess it's because it's the only thing going on in the vid?
Somewhat interestingly, the fish is mellow yellow until the shaking starts (so much for THAT theory), but once things start happening, it goes nuts faster than the humans do (you can catch it if you watch closely).
Other than that, it's a fish.
The NSA: Granted, they are all powerful and perhaps evil, but at least they on OUR SIDE. I don't like wars or conflict (I think they are outdated methods of resource allocation), but if shit hits the fan, we've got people that can and will defend us.
I think that is good.
But... I think it is interesting to consider WHY certain posts are created. Does a separate, cabinet level post really need to exist for homeland security? Wouldn't a secretary of defense occupy that duty?
Sure, homeland security would be a worthy sub-cabinet level post, but was the homeland security position made into a cabinet position for PR or for truly getting things done?
A consultant I once worked with told me a story (perhaps it's an "old wife's" tale), of a unix mail server.
Apparently at his friend's work there was a mail server no one bothered to ever learn the physical location of, people just remotely logged in and logged out, for years and years. Then one day, the office was being remodeled and between the drywall (inside the walls) they found a rather dusty, yellowed computer terminal. They had found their mail server!
Does anyone else buy that story? I'm a bit skeptical.
Yeah, but how much is that in Libraries of Congress? /sarcasm
Wait a minute, I call shenanigans. I did a Google for "TV Tray Tables" and didn't see anything. Went to page four. Am I missing some kind of rule 34 trick here?
No, actually I've never seen it. It kind of formed in my head while hanging out on marketwatch.com (a WSJ website) while looking at all the dipshit comments people had to make about the economy.
/. type system their views would receive the mods; and since they don't know what they're talking about, it wouldn't add much to good business discourse.
Since the idiots are in the majority, if there were a
But since even idiots buy stuff, WSJ doesn't want to send those people away. I brought something like this solution up on their suggestions forum on their site and they said they liked it. I think this means they may implement it, so if you find it anywhere, that might be the first place.
I actually brought this up in hopes that I'd get enough attention for someone to point out why this DOESN'T work. I'm just surprised high traffic sites don't use stuff like this already. I can't think of any downsides to this approach (aside from people insulating themselves from alternate opinions -- but I suspect that happens anyway)... can you?
The best solution is to embrace political cliques. Do I hate MS with my dying breath? No. So when I post something that could be anything but an extreme dislike for MS, I'm modded troll.
A better solution, especially for Washington Post, where emotional politics are the norm, is to embrace different views.
You're new to the site? Ok, you see everyone's comments -- stupid, insightful & hateful. Add a button where you can choose them as a friend, or never see their comments again. Once you've got enough friends built up, you can switch to a friend view, where you don't see anyone BUT your friends -- maybe you can add an option for occasionally putting non-friend, popular comments into your view.
This solution enables the nutcases to talk to each other and the reasonable people to talk to each other -- all at the same time, but on different "channels", if you will.
(By the way, MS sucks and I hope they DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!!!!!)
Oh... those sneaky bastards...
Regardless of your stance on Google, I for one am very happy they are on this case. I find it improbable that any other company would put up as much of a fight as they do.
...but India's democracy is it's greatest weakness... I believe you are right, and I am a firm believer in democracy. An underdeveloped state will have real problems with a democracy, because social institutions are not strong enough to support rational governance for an extended period of time. Education of the population is often is an issue as well.However, ultimately I think India is better off as a democracy (because they do have fairly robust social infrastructure), and in such a fractured society, people need a voice -- but the democracy is fragile and though I think they'll make it, there is a somewhat worrying probability that they will not.
What about Africa? Seems as though you're forgetting about them. They will be the last in line to make the world their t-shirts and shoelaces.
Years ago, I had a sociology teacher say that economic success gradually filters down. The whiter you are, the quicker you get it. If that is true, Africa will be last. Europe, USA have achieved success, China and Brazil are getting there, and Africa... well, we're just beginning to look at their natural resources.
Things seem to be developing that way.